Celtic midfielder gets maiden Under-21 call-up for country of mother's birth

Celtic’s Matt O’Riley has received his maiden international call-up for Denmark.

The London-born midfielder, who qualifies for the Scandinavian side through his Danish-born mother, has been named in the Japser Sorensen’s Under-21 squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifier against Belgium on March 29.

The 21-year-old has established himself at Celtic since arriving at Parkhead in January from MK Dons in a £1.5million deal, scoring one goal in nine appearances.

O’Riley has previously represented England at youth level but speaking last month, the Danish FA's development manager Flemming Berg revealed that the Celtic ace had informed him of his intention to switch allegiance.

Celtic's Matt O'Riley has been called up to the Denmark Under-21 squad. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

He said: "We have had contact with Matt. He informed us, along with his agent and his family, that he would be interested in playing for Denmark.

"He is part of our talent pool now. If we thought he had no interest from him, he wouldn't be on the list.

"Matt has also been to training sessions with the youth national teams on several occasions."

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